Ch. 12: Pretending
Together with Malfoy's not-so-inconspicuous absence from the party, Hermione's and Nezumi's kiss was the biggest gossip. Students alternated between conjuring pumpkins whenever Malfoy showed up and whispering urgently when Nezumi as much as smiled at Hermione. She heard some of the stories about the "forbidden love" between a Gryffindor and a Slytherin from Ginny. She complained about that one Sunday, while they were studying, and it really didn't help that Nezumi quoted the balcony scene from Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" in reply, sending Lizzy and Shion into a laughing fit. Even worse so, since some other, Muggle born, Gryffindors were within the hearing range.
The repercussions among her friends were severe, Hermione thought, especially considering the honest innocence of the act. On one hand, there was Safu, who was positively gleeful about the new development. Every time they met to study, she would have to say something at least about it and she didn't acknowledge Hermione's assurances that it was only part of the bet. She claimed that Nezumi doesn't do this kind of things just to win a bet and Hermione started wondering.
She had dismissed the thought that there was something more to the kiss, but what if there was? Safu's talking confused her and she knew it was a slippery path she would take if she started to imagine things when the guy basically told her he's gay and in love. Didn't Safu know that? She tried asking Shion what he thought, working hard to look him in the eyes and not at the red scar that seem to go all around his neck, almost wishing that he was still wearing that scarf. He only smiled at her and said that it was easier to understand why people studied Divination than what Nezumi's motives were.
It occurred to her that the kissing took some attention off Shion's scar and she wondered if that could have been Nezumi's motive. She knew that the twins were both rather protective over Shion this year. Considering the fact that Shion was obviously uncomfortable about the attention he was getting for his eyes and hair and that weird scar should only add to the load, it seemed like something Nezumi could do for his friend. Could that have been the reason why Safu was so happy? But if it was then why did she insist that there was surely something more behind the kiss?
Most annoyingly, however, Ron was seriously pissed about the incident. Harry was shocked, Ginny was worried, but Ron was outright pissed. He didn't miss a single occasion to remind her about the fact that she was betraying Gryffindor by associating with Slytherins. November arrived and went and the gossip quietened when there were no other signs of the romance between her and Nezumi, but Ron was still upset.
Finally, on a particularly snowy, December Sunday, Hermione exploded, shocking Harry, Ron and Ginny, who were sitting with her when the explosion happened.
'How thick can you be, Ronald?' she exclaimed when the conversation brought another veiled comment about betrayal. She was glad that almost everybody was out, enjoying the snow. 'They made a bet,' she spat. 'A bet to see if they are going to get you riled up and they managed. Why do you always get so riled up? If you fancy me, why don't you say that or ask me out or, or anything!'
Ron opened and closed his mouth, looking very much like a fish, but Hermione was too angry to find it funny. He blushed also, the furious red that matched his hair perfectly. She took a deep breath and sagged in her seat, ignoring Harry's and Ginny's worried looks.
'I'm so tired of this attitude,' she muttered. 'You ranted about Victor, now you rant about Nezumi. Who are you going to rant about next? What will it take for you to finally make your move?' she asked. Not that she wanted him to make a move; really, she wasn't sure what she wanted, except not what she was getting. In the beginning of this year, she was actually thinking that she was attracted to Ron, but what if she was wrong? Ron repeated his fish-like performance and Hermione turned to the other two.
'So there's nothing between you and the Slytherin rat, is there?' Harry asked with a smile and she was too tired to protest against the name-calling. Then again, "Nezumi" did mean "rat" in Japanese, so maybe it wasn't name-calling after all.
'Of course there is nothing between us, he-' she bit her tongue right on time, or possibly a fraction of a second too late. However, it seemed that her friends were too relieved to notice her slip, so she continued with a smirk. 'He is a good kisser though.'
'So the rumour has it,' Ginny replied, her smirk matching that of Hermione's. 'I think I'll pierce my ears over Christmas, by the way,' she added and Hermione realised that, between studying and the gossip and Ron's attitude, they didn't even have a time to chat properly. 'I loved how I looked with those earrings that Elizabeth made.'
'They looked amazingly well on you,' Hermione agreed and Ginny beamed at her. 'So did that green dress.'
'Yeah, it's a shame that it's the colour of Slytherins,' Ginny muttered. 'The twins will have a fit if they see me wearing green like that,' she added and it took Hermione a moment to realise that she was talking about her brothers. Since when did "the twins" become "Ciel and Nezumi" to her? She bit her lip.
'So, what's new?' she asked, mainly to clear the thoughts from her head.
'Nothing much,' Harry said. 'We're having no progress with Michael's investigation, so me and Ron started thinking that we could use the Cloak and sneak into the Ravenclaw tower to find some answers,' he added. It took Hermione a long moment to understand what he was talking about and, when she did, a cold shudder ran down her spine.
'Well, the scar on his neck,' she started uncertainly. Harry shook his head and said that Shion was still behaving in a weird way, keeping himself to himself. She asked if Michael tried asking what happened.
'Are you crazy, Hermione?' Ron asked her, looking at her as though she grew a second head. 'The guys are afraid that he has turned into some sort of monster. Apparently there are some kinds of vampires that have violet eyes.' Hermione couldn't believe she was hearing that.
'And you read that in what? The Quibbler?' she asked angrily. 'Vampires cannot go out in the sun and that seems to not be a problem for Shion, in case you guys didn't notice. Besides, vampires all have a bite mark on their necks and it's quite visible so you wouldn't be able to miss it,' she added.
'Well what else makes your eyes change? Michael established for sure that it's not lensy contacts,' Ron argued back. Hermione didn't even want to correct him, knowing that he pretty much ignored her corrections of Muggle expressions. 'He cannot be a werewolf because we would notice that he was away from classes and Lupin's eyes are normal. We tried to find other creatures, but you know how bored we get in the library,' he continued and Hermione rolled her eyes at the statement. 'Hey! Can you look for us?'
'Excuse me?' she asked, pretending to not understand what he meant.
'That is an excellent idea,' Harry caught on. 'We know how you love to spend time in the library. Hermione, could you help us find what could have caused this? Or maybe even ask him? He trusts you so he will tell you,' he asked, looking at her pleadingly, but Hermione wasn't going to bend.
'No,' she said categorically. 'I have enough to do with all the homework and I will not waste my time helping you and the stupid Michael Corner. I will not ask Shion what happened and don't try to make me change my mind,' she said and snapped her book shut. 'I'm going to the library now and don't you dare to follow me and pester me about that,' she added and left.
Really, could Ron and Harry know that she was, in fact looking? Could they have seen the books that she has been reading when she has been "studying" alone? She was also sure that she was on the right track, but the books she needed were in the Restricted Section and to get there, Hermione needed a really good excuse. She didn't want to raise suspicions, neither from her friends nor from her study group. Unfortunately, their homework didn't call for the access to the Restricted Section since Hermione figured out that she needed books from there.
She walked into the library, thinking that she had some time before she would meet with the others. She could maybe- She stopped dead, when she noticed Shion, sitting at their usual table, alone, writing something. It really was impossible to miss him, with that head full of shiny, snow-white hair, she thought, looking at him. He must have felt her gaze, because he looked up and around and smiled when he saw her. She smiled back and walked up to the table, feeling rotten for sniffing around the secrets of somebody who trusted her so obviously. He went back to writing, but looked up again when she reached the table.
'You're early,' he noted as she sat opposite to him.
'So are you,' she countered, looking at the books that he had on the table. Ancient Runes, she thought, and it looks like homework for next lesson also. She had finished it already, of course, on the very day when it was given to them. She was about to feel smug but she remembered that he was keeping up with his Muggle studies in the meantime.
'I got a detention this week,' he admitted sheepishly, probably noticing her gaze on the books. 'So I didn't have time to do everything that I wanted before today.' She was opening her mouth to ask what the detention was for, but he spoke again, a fraction of a second faster. 'Did I ever thank you for that book you offered me for my birthday?' he asked.
'Huh? Ah, the Viking Runes' book?' she asked, remembering. He nodded and told her that it was amazing. It actually said some stuff about the beliefs of the Vikings, he said, and launched into a description of one of the stories. If Hermione didn't know better, she would have thought that he was stalling to make her forget about the detention. But Shion didn't do things like that, did he? She half listened to the story, admitting to him that it did sound interesting when he finished, and saying that she was very happy that he liked his birthday gift.
'It was great, really,' he assured her, nodding. 'I wish I knew what to give to Ciel and Nezumi next week,' he said and his mood fell a bit. Hermione's curiosity sparkled at his words.
'It's their birthday next week?' she asked. Shion nodded. 'They didn't say anything about it when we were talking the other day,' she commented. She would have expected them to demand some gifts, or something along those lines.
'On the 14th of December. But they don't like to remember it, so we never make a party or anything. We don't even mention it usually, because they get grumpy otherwise,' he explained calmly, although his tone was a bit sad. Very toned down for him, Hermione thought, trying to imagine the boy in front of her ignoring his best friends' birthday. 'We just make sure to drop some gifts where they can find them or something and we leave it at that.'
'Ah,' she commented his last statement. 'But why?' she asked, not understanding why somebody could dislike their birthday so much. Shion looked at her for a moment and then said that they have some bad experiences from that day and they really don't like to remember them, so they don't like the day. Nodding her understanding, Hermione noticed, with the corner of her eye, that Harry, Ron and Ginny were coming into the library. Ginny went towards her, while Harry and Ron disappeared between the shelves.
'You know that Harry has an Invisibility Cloak?' she asked out of the blue, cutting Shion's sentence in the middle. He looked at her unblinkingly for a long moment and then frowned.
'Why are you telling me that?' he asked slowly. Hermione wondered herself. 'You know I'm not good with the mind games. You should try that with Nezumi or Ciel,' he added, just as Ginny sat next to Hermione with a smile. Shion looked at her and then back at Hermione and she thought that he was going to leave. Was that what Harry wanted?
'What are you guys up to?' Ginny asked, looking from Hermione to Shion. Hermione thought that she seemed nervous. She saw Ginny lick her lips nervously and open her moth to say something else and a foreboding feeling overwhelmed her.
'We were just discussing Ancient Runes,' she said the first thing that came to her head. 'The Viking Runes to be precise. I think I'd like to read about them,' she added, wondering what has gotten into her. Ginny blinked and wanted to say something again, but Shion was faster this time, although he probably didn't even notice that Ginny wanted to speak.
'I can borrow you the book you gave me,' he said enthusiastically. He glanced at the clock that was hanging above Madame Pince's desk. 'I can pick it up before the others come if you want,' he added and, before Hermione could protest, left.
'Thanks Hermione, you're the best,' Ginny said and kissed her cheek, before disappearing out of the library. With a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, Hermione ran after her.